The Leadership and Learning Blog
The Text Complexity “Staircase” in the Common Core Standards
Just as the Aorta carries blood from the heart, Common Core State Standard number 10 carries increasing levels of text complexity up from Grade 2 through Grade 12 and into College and Career Readiness. In many respects, text complexity is the hallmark of the CCSS as it reveals the depth of educators’ commitment to providing American students every opportunity to be prepared to meet future global challenges. Providing a specific Standard 10 presence in each grade level, including a place-holder in both Kindergarten and Grade 1 to allow foundations to be established, the Common Core’s text complexity standard provides a backward-mapped format to scaffold instruction. Notice the scaffolded expectations in the Staircase for Text Complexity within the following (Grades 11 – Career and College Readiness):
GRADES 11-CCR: By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature (informational texts) at the high end of the grade 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently. By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature (information texts) in the grades 11-CCR text complexity band proficiently, and with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
The combination of the increased text complexity and the depth of cognitive demand within the task, such as incorporating discipline-specific questions, generates higher levels of rigor.
Although text complexity is not a new concept, it has been an expectation buried in the haystack of educational assumptions. Without the existence of specific standards and measurable outcomes, its significance became lost. The Common Core State Standards acknowledge that increasing text complexity expectations is not a simple task. Increasing a student’s capacity to understand complex text is an arduous goal. The path provided by the Common Core State Standards represents commitment to closing this gap, informing teachers, and guiding deep understanding with clear expectations.
As we proceed to expand teachers’ expertise in increasing students’ deep understanding of complex text—and its use with disciplinary literacy instruction—I welcome and value your thoughts.
Comments
I agree, but how to translate this into daily, consistent, classroom practice? I have a unique system that will help: AMERICAN LEARNING LEAGUE. It is based on a successful Learning League in CT (17,000 students currently enrolled). For ELA, A.L.L. will have themed units of short online quizzes that teach the CCSS. These will be called HOME GAMES and one "series" will be automatically scheduled each month. That's 18 ELA games that key off a passage on Lincoln, for example. A 50-word passage that tests and assesses knowledge of Tier 1 words, for openers. Then a 300-word passage that digs deeper. Then 4 games teaching relevant academic vocabulary. Then a game teaching and testing sequencing and temporal language connected to Lincoln. Another 4 games teaching domain-specific language. The 17th game in the series, NOT SO FAST!, comprises a short opinion piece on Lincoln and 10 questions that raise consciousness on opinion-making. Finally, a game called LITERALLY? which distinguishes literal and non-literal language connected to Lincoln. All this for 3rd grade. Live scoreboards will show how hard students across American are working. AMERICAN LEARNING LEAGUE will be free or very cheap. Please sign up at www.AmericanLearningLeague.com if you'd like more information. We hope to be a part of the solution ;)
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